The Return of Tony Dungy
(September 29, 2003)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are preparing for a big Monday night game against the Indianapolis Colts. What makes this prime time match-up more compelling is that head coach Tony Dungy is bringing his undefeated team into Raymond James Stadium. In the history of the Bucs, the team has never faced its former head coach.

John McKay retired. Leeman Bennett sold mobile homes. Ray Perkins and Richard Williamson were assistant coaches. Sam Wyche went into broadcasting. Before Tony Dungy, no former Bucs head coach went on to lead another NFL team. It was sort of a coaching deathbed. Dungy changed all that and will take on Jon Gruden, the man who was able to take the Bucs to the next level.

The Colts are coming off a 55-21 Sunday night victory at New Orleans. A Tony Dungy team scoring 55 points? None of his Bucs teams ever scored that many. Actually, since the team record is 48, the Bucs have never scored 55 points in franchise history. The Colts are 4-0, winning by an average score of 30-12. The Bucs are 2-1, coming off the bye week, and have won by an average score of 19-7. The offense of Dungy versus the defense of Jon Gruden. Funny game football.

It will be a week of hype and buildup, but this is an important game for Tampa Bay. The Bucs won their Monday night opener 17-0 at Philadelphia on two spectacular touchdown catches by Joe Jurevicius. The team looked like, as Keyshawn Johnson stated, "Super Bowl chumps" in the home opener. The game featured 31 penalties, 17 by the Bucs, and the home team had two field goals blocked. The Bucs tied the game with no time left, but a blocked PAT lead the way for a 12-9 overtime loss. The Bucs bounced back with a 31-10 blowout at Atlanta, which featured the first career TD catch by tight end Warren Sapp.

Carolina is now 3-0 and could be 4-0 by the time the teams take the field Monday. The Panthers play the 1-3 Saints Sunday. Without Michael Vick, Atlanta is also 1-3. At this early stage, it looks like the Bucs and Carolina will battle it out for the NFC South title. The Bucs will go on the road for a couple games, including at Steve Spurrier's 3-1 Redskins, so Monday night is a big early season game for the Bucs.

I am sure that is not the only article we will read about Tony Dungy's return to Tampa Bay. There should be quite a bit of hype leading up to the game. There will be articles praising him for the job of turning the Bucs around. This is an important game for the Super Bowl champions. What's past is past. Go Bucs.